March 26, 2003

The Good Girl

I had the great pleasure of seeing The Good Girl last night. Liz’s roommate Marc decided to get it off of Pay-Per-View and her and I subsequently decided to tape it and watch it tonight. I made the mistake of watching the first few minutes that, before I knew it, quickly turned into the first hour. You know how that goes.

I am not by any means a Jennifer Aniston fan, but I couldn’t help but love her in this film. I am on the other hand a Jake Gyllenhaal fan (Donnie Darko was one of my most favorite recent films). The southern drawls, the hopelessness, and the need for something more—all cliché as hell (well, I guess the southern drawl isn’t as much) but pulled off wonderfully. The films’ characters are all searching for someone or something to understand or fill their miserable lives to make their existence tolerable. Once again, tried and true themes. But that’s OK. The best parts of this film aren’t found in the story, because it’s nothing new. They are found in the acting and in the directing, both of which were phenomenal. Also, the film was written by Mike White, who brought us the sorely missed Freaks and Geeks. The film moves along at just quick enough a pace for you to squirm watching all of the sordid encounters and betrayals. Very nice.